This time last year, Kentwood diver Jesse Dehnert wasn’t even competing at the Class 4A state boys swim and dive championships. What a difference a year makes. At the end of Saturday, Dehnert was wearing a seventh-place medal having tallied 314 points.
“He’s improved by leaps and bounds,” said Kentwood dive coach Melissa Clayton. “He calculates what he needs to do and just does it.”
Clayton attributed Dehnert’s improvement over the past year to his decision to start diving with a club team. She described his performance Saturday as “amazing.”
“He did some of his best diving today,” Clayton said. “I’m just impressed. He did what he needed to do.”
Dehnert wasn’t terribly happy with his dives during the prelims.
“I just relaxed… and did as well as I could have hoped to today,” Dehnert said. “It’s awesome that I’ve been able to come this far.”
Like Dehnert, the Kentridge High squad didn’t compete on Saturday at state in 2010, either.
At the end of Saturday, the Chargers had a seventh place finish as a team and a trio of second-place finishes. Kentridge coach Erin Schulze said it would have been nice if the 200-yard freestyle relay team had made it to the finals Saturday but overall she couldn’t complain.
“I think we’re doing really well,” said Schulze before the 400 free relay. “We had lots of great swims yesterday. We’ve had lots of great swims today. Everyone who is here is doing really well.”
For example, freshman phenom Chase Bublitz picked up a pair of silver medals, touching the wall in 21.41 seconds in the 50 free and finishing the 100 free in 47.54. Bublitz came in second in both races — the 50 free by a tenth of a second — to fellow freshman Edward Kim from Eastlake.
Schulze said those two will be facing each other again at state during the next three years but knows Bublitz has a state title in him.
“His adrenaline is pumping,” Schulze said of Bublitz. “He’s young. He doesn’t have reservations. He goes all out. He’s incredible. He’s a good kid.”
It was a satisfying end to a satisfying season for Kentridge, which won the South Puget Sound League North Division title, came in second at the SPSL and West Central District meets then capped it off with a second-place finish (3:15.22) in the 400 free relay at state.
“It’s really exciting to be here,” Schulze said. “Our motivating phrase this year has been ‘Respect all, fear none.'”
And the roles seem to have reversed this year for Kentlake, which had a top eight finish in 2010 but dropped to 14th this year.
Sophomore Erik Fulmer swam in a pair of consolation finals, finishing fifth in the 200 medley (2:02.83) and seventh in the 100 backstroke (57.14). Falcons senior Christian Knobloch finished seventh in the 50 free, stopping the clock at 22.31. Tanner Keeling-Garcia, a junior, won the 100 butterfly consolation final with a time of 53.82. As he got out of the pool he said it was a personal best by six-hundredths. Senior Matthew Bailey, Kent-Meridian’s lone representative, finished seventh in the 100 free consolation final with a time of 50.76.
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